Posts Tagged ‘R&D’

Please join us on Thursday March 15, 2018 at 6pm in the Sanctuary Lounge at i-on-CONNECT for MetroTech’s Connect Inaugural MeetUp to learn more about business financing for tech start-ups.

WHO:Attendees: Anyone interested in being part of a network of collaborative, innovative, tech start-up focused humans!

Presenters:

Jaap Siekman MSc, PEng, PMP

Jaap is the Regional Manager for NorthBridge Consultants. He educates start-ups and growing companies on Government Funding programs that support R&D and Innovation in Canada. Jaap has 28 years of managerial experience in New Product Development, Engineering and Manufacturing in a variety of industries. Founded 25 years ago, and with ~20 professionals in offices in BC, ON, and QC, NorthBridge is an expert consultancy firm assisting businesses throughout Canada with Government Funding that supports R&D, Innovation and Growth.

Jaap will discuss a variety of Government Funding programs that support Product Development, commercialization and company growth, such as:

SR&ED

IRAP

Selling to the government: BCIP, ISC, CANSOFCOM, IDEaS

Clean tech: SDTC and ICE Fund

Agri-Food: Growing Forward, Agri-Innovation

Working with universities: Engage, CRD, Mitacs

Export marketing: CanExport, Going Global Innovation, Soft Landing

Hiring & Training Grants

Gary Bizzo – Strategist/Global Influencer
Gary has mentored over 1000 business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs and is a global social media influencer and author. Forbes, in May 2017, said Bizzo was one of the Top 25 Small Business Accounts on Twitter. London-based Richtopia said Bizzo was one of the Top 200 Social Influencers in the World for 2017. Entrepreneur Magazine, in 2014, said Bizzo was one of “17 Masters of Marketing & PR Entrepreneurs Can Learn From.” He is an Elite Weekly writer for Equities.com (the largest platform for emerging growth companies). He is the author of “How to Start a Successful Business – the First Time” and “Social Media RockStar – Social Media Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Business” both on Amazon. He also contributes to Stockhouse.com. Gary is a Partner at Equifaira – Liquidity Event Planners, specialists in strategy & execution, corporate finance, capital formation & investor relations. & TBA

WHAT: All things finance! Not only how to get money but how to spend and ways save it!

WHERE: The stylish, state of the art Sanctuary Lounge at i-on-CONNECT at One Innovation Place in North Burnaby. A short walk or bus ride from Production/University Skytrain Station and minutes from SFU, BCIT, Hwy#1 & Hwy#7

WHEN: We plan on having our Connection MeetUps on the third Thursday of most months – Thursday is, after all, the new Friday!!

HOW:
1) Register
2) Show up.
3) Network, eat pizza, have a beer, share experiences at a roundtable facilitated by one of our speakers.
4) Sit back and listen to the featured presentations.
5) Participate in a vote on your content…what do you want out of this MeetUp…this is all about you!
5) Head home smarter and more confident than when you arrived, buzzed on knowledge

HOW MUCH: $15 – same for everyone – through paypal/credit card online!

Manufacturers and technology firms who invest in innovation can now apply for repayable and non-repayable funding of up to 50% of eligible project costs under the recently launched Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

If your company is investing in R&D or expansion, the SIF can help support the costs of direct labour, subcontractors and consultants, as well as overhead, direct materials and equipment, land and building and other direct costs.

Launched on July 5th 2017 with the objective of spurring Canadian innovation, the SIF provides funding under four streams:

With a $1.26B budget allocated for five years, the SIF provides a good alternative to IRAP funding. It consolidates and simplifies the previous Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative, Technology Demonstration Program, Automotive Innovation Fund and Automotive Supplier Innovation Program.

Contact us to today for a free, no obligation consultation to find out how the SIF can help you maximize your R&D and business growth initiatives.

Our Regional Manager for Western Canada, Jaap Siekman, will be hosting the seminar together with Erik Kaas, the Innovation Advisor for the National Research Council of Canada (NRC-IRAP) Concierge Service. Together, they will cover a range of government grants and funding programs including the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax Credit Program and the Agri-Innovation Program among others.

Sourcing funding from multiple government programs to meet business goals and continually invest in innovation is essential to securing a competitive advantage and accelerating the growth of your business.

1. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program dates back to as early as 1944, when companies could deduct 100% of eligible expenditures and a third of capital expenditures incurred for scientific research from their taxable income.

2. The Canadian government provides over $20 billion in the form of direct and indirect funding programs each year for increasing innovation and national competitiveness.

3. Canadian expenditure on industrial R&D, expressed as a share of GDP, is relatively low compared to other countries and is predominantly concentrated in several traditionally R&D-intensive industries, including aerospace, pharmaceuticals, information and communication technologies, oil and gas extraction, and scientific research and development services.

4. While several industries are at par with other countries in industrial R&D intensity, such as computer and communications equipment manufacturing, these industries constitute a smaller portion of the Canadian economy, thereby dragging down Canada’s overall industrial R&D intensity compared to other countries, such as the U.S.

6. Canada has the 12th highest rate of patents granted in the world and is responsible for 1.1% of patents filed in Europe, Japan, and the United States.

7. Ontario accounts for the largest share of R&D in the ICT sector. Aerospace R&D is concentrated in Quebec, R&D in the oil and gas industry is predominantly concentrated in Alberta, British Columbia, and Atlantic Canada, whereas the majority of pharmaceutical R&D is performed in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

8. Canadian companies are increasingly combining indirect funding from SR&ED with direct government funding programs, such as grants and loans, for business growth, continuing innovation, and workforce development.

9. Compared to other countries, Canadian industrial R&D is more labour intensive and less capital intensive.

10. Canada has several globally significant clusters of R&D-intensive firms as measured by number of patents granted. There are almost as many patents produced in the GTA as in Vancouver and Montreal combined. Furthermore, the number of patents per capita is highest in Ottawa and Waterloo.

If the inventors of the technological innovations depicted in the Star Trek franchise conducted their research and development (R&D) in Canada and had been Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations, they could have been eligible for funding using the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program. In SR&ED, there are several industries and sub-sectors that are eligible for this funding. Let’s take a look at four technological innovations shown in Star Trek and which sub-sector and industry they would fall under:

Doctor Noonian Soong’s Androids: Soong went through a few iterations of androids before he developed Data, a robotic system that was stable and technologically advanced enough to work safely side by side with his human counterparts. Data had the capacity to learn from his surroundings and fellow crew mates. Soong’s work in cybernetics could have been eligible for funding through the artificial intelligence sub-sector in the Information Technology Industry.

VISOR: This was a medical device that provided vision to the blind. It sent electromagnetic signals to the brain using neural implants. Because this was an electromedical device that used known electromagnetic signals in a new way as well as improved patient care, the inventors of the VISOR could have been eligible for funding through the electromedical and electrotherapeutic apparatus sub-sectors in the Biotech Industry.

Tricorder: This was a highly advanced device to scan, record, and analyze biological, electromagnetic, and chemical data. There had been several iterations of the tricorder, which were used by engineers and medical doctors. Because this was a device designed to improve the detection and analysis of data, this invention could have been eligible for SR&ED funding through the data transmission protocols and firmware and software development sub-sectors in the Information Technology Industry.

Holodeck – One of the main purposes of this system was to allow the crew to train or unwind from a stressful day using interactive gaming technology. A plethora of stories and situations could be programmed into the holodeck. Although this invention could potentially receive funding through the gaming sub-sector in the Information Technology Industry because of advanced development of a gaming engine, the interactive property of the holodeck aligns with eligibility criteria for funding through the Digital Gaming Industry.

You may have noticed that the inventors went through several design iterations as well made improvements upon existing technology. In SR&ED, the more revisions a project has, the better.